The Beer Guy Review #13 – Samuel Adams Whitewater IPA

The Beer Guy
August 17, 2012

The Beer Guy

Occupation: Beer Taster & Reviewer
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Name of beer:  Samuel Adams Whitewater IPA

Brewing Company: Boston Beer Company

Brewing Location: Boston, MA / Cincinnati, OH / Breinigsville, PA

Type of Beer: American India Pale Ale / White Ale – ABV: 5.8% / IBU: 60

Beer Description: From website:

About: We love hops at Samuel Adams, and while we enjoy traditional IPAs, we thought we might spice things up a little bit, literally, by combining the intense hop character of an IPA with the crisp spicy wheat character of a Belgian-style white ale. The resulting fusion-style brew is Samuel Adams Whitewater IPA. The white ale and IPA combination make this crisp, smooth, yet hop-friendly beer the perfect pairing with a variety of meats and cheeses. Intensely flavored and firm in texture, Blue cheeses need a bold beer like Whitewater IPA to cleanse the palate. The brew’s strong hop character also adds an earthiness to the savory flavor of meat.

History: White ales are traditionally known as “witbiers”, or white beers. The name comes from the hazy color of the unfiltered beer and the fact that these beers were much lighter in color than the other brews of the time. The witbier style dates back over 400 years in Belgium, to medieval times before the advent of hops, when spices and herbs were used to flavor and preserve beer. While hops are used in today’s white ales, the flavor is still very subtle. Where witbiers have very subtle hop flavors, IPAs are the opposite. The highly hopped India Pale Ales came about in England centuries after witbiers were enjoyed in Belgium. IPAs are known for their intense hop character, thought to be the result of liberal hopping of the beer to preserve it for voyage from England to India for enjoyment of the East India Company traders in the late 18th Century.

Brewing: We are always tinkering with tradition at Samuel Adams, and this unique new beer style is the delicious result of combining the characteristics of two traditional styles. The unfiltered beer is brewed with our proprietary blend of pale malts and white wheat to create a crisp base onto which we layer spice notes from orange peel and coriander, traditional white ale spices, and an intense piney, citrusy hop character from Australian and American hops. The subtle addition of apricots balances out the bitterness of the hops and adds a slight sweetness to the beer.

The Beer Guy Review:

Well, here we are at Review #13 and, with the exception of my 4th of July beer reviews special, I have yet to really review a Boston Beer Company / Samuel Adams beer.  The king of craft beers, Samuel Adams has quite a number of beers available in their repertoire.  So when I find something new, I jump at the chance to buy it.  Such was the case with the 6-pack of the Whitewater IPA, first brewed this year.

When opening the first (cold) bottle, I got a whiff of the citrus and hops the beer purports to have.  The golden haze of beer poured into my pint glass and settled with a medium head that sustained itself throughout the entire experience.  When opening the second (slightly warmer, more room temperature) bottle, I got more of that orange essence in the odor.  The pour produced a light, fluffy head about twice the size of the original (cold) pour.

This beer has a lot going on.  Upon first taste, you get a prevalence of grapefruit.  This lasts through every single taste.  It’s quite strong.  Sometimes you get this in IPAs, and the Whitewater IPA is no different.  There are subtle spicy undertones one might get from a White Ale, or Witbier, too.  Other reviews and the beer description describe an apricot sweetness.  I’ve got to be honest…I don’t even know if I’ve ever even tasted an apricot.  Sorry?  Unfortunately, I’m not the King of Persia with an abundance of apricots being thrown my way.  But with that being said, I detected a sweetness during the first couple seconds of tasting.  Is that apricot?  Ok.  Then, the grapefruity, sour taste takes over.  And the aftertaste persists well after tasting.

As far as The Beer Guy review goes, I give the Samuel Adams Whitewater IPA a:

I was going back and forth with giving it a 3 of 7 (I may just have another), but decided on the 4 of 7 due to the complexity of flavor combining a White Ale with an IPA.  I like a little grapefruit taste in my beer, but the Whitewater IPA was quite strong and persistent.  For summer, this is a good, crisp, medium-light body beer.  If you enjoy Hefeweizens during the warmer summer days, give this one a try.  It’s got a slightly more sour taste, but not one you would get from a sour beer.  Another creative addition to the Samuel Adams brand of beer.  Creative, bold and enjoyable.  Would you expect anything less from the king of craft beers?

So, what do you think?  Have you had this beer?  Do you like it?  Do you not like it?  Send me a note at The Beer Guy’s mailbag, TheBeerGuy@lifeofdad.com.  You can follow me on Twitter (@TheBeerGuyLOD), Facebook and LinkedIn as well.  Take care, happy (and safe) drinking, and enjoy your weekend.

About The Beer Guy – A dad, husband, friend and drinker of beer. I review & blog about it all on LifeOfDad.com, the premiere social networking website for Dads.  The Beer Guy enjoys IPA’s and Pilsner’s, but will really try any kind of beer.  You may disagree on some of his opinions.  Let The Beer Guy know.  Reviews are published on Thursdays.  Blogging is done on Tuesdays.  Read more here to learn about The Beer Guy, who he is and his beer rating methodology.

The Beer Guy, and Life of Dad, promote responsible drinking.  Never drink and drive.

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